I've often wished that I had clear,
For life, six hundred pounds a year,
A handsome house read more

I've often wished that I had clear,
For life, six hundred pounds a year,
A handsome house to lodge a friend,
A river at my garden's end,
A terrace walk, and half a rood
Of land, set out to plant a wood.

With all thy sober charms possest,
Whose wishes never learnt to stray.

With all thy sober charms possest,
Whose wishes never learnt to stray.

Wishing, of all employments is the worst.

Wishing, of all employments is the worst.

If I live to grow old, as I find I go down,
Let this be my fate in a read more

If I live to grow old, as I find I go down,
Let this be my fate in a country town;
May I have a warm house, with a stone at my gate,
And a cleanly young girl to rub my bald pate.
May I govern my passions with an absolute sway,
Grow wiser and better as my strength wears away,
Without gout or stone, by a gentle decay.
- Walter Pope, The Old Man's Wish,

Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all.

Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all.

I wanted to be a cattle rancher when I was young, because it was what I knew and I loved read more

I wanted to be a cattle rancher when I was young, because it was what I knew and I loved it.rn

What folly can be ranker. Like our shadows,
Our wishes lengthen as our sun declines.

What folly can be ranker. Like our shadows,
Our wishes lengthen as our sun declines.

What most we wish, with ease we fancy near.

What most we wish, with ease we fancy near.

He calls his wish, it comes; he sends it back,
And says he called another; that arrives,
read more

He calls his wish, it comes; he sends it back,
And says he called another; that arrives,
Meets the same welcome; yet he still calls on;
Till one calls him, who varies not his call,
But holds him fast, in chains of darkness bound,
Till Nature dies, and judgment sets him free;
A freedom far less welcome than this chain.